Book of Common Prayer
An Experience of the Captivity.
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we [captives] sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].
2
On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon
We hung our harps.
3
For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words,
And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4
How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a strange and foreign land?
5
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget [her skill with the harp].
6
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not prefer Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.(A)
7
Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom,
The day of [the fall of] Jerusalem,
Who said “Down, down [with her]
To her very foundation.”
8
O daughter of Babylon, you devastator,
How blessed will be the one
Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.(B)
9
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity.
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my great strength,
Who trains my hands for war
And my fingers for battle;
2
My [steadfast] lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my rescuer,
My shield and He in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues my people under me.
3
Lord, what is man that You take notice of him?
Or the son of man that You think of him?(A)
4
Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a shadow that passes away.
5
Bow Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
6
Flash lightning and scatter my enemies;
Send out Your arrows and confuse and embarrass and frustrate them.
7
Stretch out Your hand from above;
Set me free and rescue me from great waters,
Out of the hands of [hostile] foreigners [who surround us]
8
Whose mouths speak deceit [without restraint],
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9
I will sing a new song to You, O God;
Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10
Who gives salvation to kings,
Who sets David His servant free from the evil sword.
11
Set me free and rescue me from the hand of [hostile] foreigners,
Whose mouth speaks deceit [without restraint],
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12
Let our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,
And our daughters like corner pillars fashioned for a palace;
13
Let our barns be full, supplying every kind of produce,
And our flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
14
Let our cattle bear
Without mishap and without loss,
And let there be no outcry in our streets!
15
How blessed and favored are the people in such circumstance;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored] are the people whose God is the Lord!
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2
[You are the One] who covers Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain,
3
Who lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters [above the firmament],
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
4
Who makes winds His messengers,
Flames of fire His ministers.(A)
5
He established the earth on its foundations,
So that it will not be moved forever and ever.(B)
6
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.(C)
7
At Your rebuke they fled;
At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
To the place which You established for them.
9
You set a boundary [for the waters] that they may not cross over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10
You send springs into the valleys;
Their waters flow among the mountains.
11
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst there.
12
Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests;
They lift up their voices and sing among the branches.(D)
13
He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14
He causes grass to grow for the cattle,
And all that the earth produces for cultivation by man,
So that he may bring food from the earth—
15
And wine which makes the heart of man glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.
16
The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,
17
Where the birds make their nests;
As for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The rocks are a refuge for the [a]shephanim.
19
He made the moon for the seasons;
The sun knows the [exact] place of its setting.
20
You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night,
In which prowls about every wild beast of the forest.
21
The young lions roar after their prey
And seek their food from God.
22
When the sun arises, they withdraw
And lie down in their dens.
23
Man goes out to his work
And remains at his labor until evening.
24
O Lord, how many and varied are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.
25
There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Creatures both small and great.
26
There the ships [of the sea] sail,
And Leviathan [the sea monster], which You have formed to play there.
27
They all wait for You
To give them their food in its appointed season.
28
You give it to them, they gather it up;
You open Your hand, they are filled and satisfied with good [things].
29
You hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You take away their breath, they die
And return to their dust.
30
You send out Your Spirit, they are created;
You renew the face of the ground.
31
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice and be glad in His works—
32
He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34
May my meditation be sweet and pleasing to Him;
As for me, I will rejoice and be glad in the Lord.
35
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, 13 ‘Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own accord. What the Lord speaks, that I will speak?’ 14 And now, look, I am going to my people; come, I will advise you as to what this people [Israel] will do to your people [Moab] in the days to come.”
15 He took up his [fourth] discourse (oracle) and said:
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
The oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16
The oracle of him who hears the words of God
And knows the knowledge of the [a]Most High,
Who sees the vision of the [b]Almighty,
Falling down, but having his eyes open and uncovered:
17
“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near.
A star shall come forth from [the descendants of] Jacob,
A scepter shall rise out of [the descendants of] Israel
And shall crush the forehead of Moab
And destroy all the sons of Sheth.(A)
18
“Edom shall be [taken as] a possession,
[Mount] Seir, Israel’s enemies, also will be a possession,
While Israel performs valiantly.
19
“One from [the descendants of] Jacob shall have dominion
And will destroy the remnant from the city.”
20 Balaam looked at Amalek and took up his [fifth] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Amalek was the first of the [neighboring] nations [to oppose the Israelites after they left Egypt],
But his end shall be [c]destruction.”
21 And Balaam looked at the Kenites and took up his [sixth] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Strong is your dwelling place,
And you set your nest in the cliff.
22
“Nevertheless the Kenites will be consumed.
How long will Asshur (Assyria) keep you (Israel) captive?”
23 Then he took up his [seventh] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Alas, who can live unless God has ordained it?
24
“But ships shall come from the coast of [d]Kittim,
And shall afflict Asshur (Assyria) and [e]Eber;
So they (the victors) also will come to destruction.”
25 Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went on his way.
18 For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! 19 For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration and futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope(A) 21 that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now.(B) 23 And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection].(C) 24 For in this hope we were saved [by faith]. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.
Jesus Answers the Sadducees
23 On that day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and asked Him a question,(A) 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, leaving no children, his brother as next of kin shall [a]marry his widow, and raise children for his brother.’(B) 25 Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. 26 The second also [died childless], and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 So in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
29 But Jesus replied to them, “You are all wrong because you know neither the Scriptures [which teach the resurrection] nor the power of God [for He is able to raise the dead]. 30 For in the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven [who do not marry nor produce children]. 31 But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you not read [in the Scripture] what God said to you: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”(C) 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
34 Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.(D) 35 One of them, a lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law], asked Jesus a question, to test Him: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”(E) 37 And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’(F) 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’(G) 40 The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
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